Data: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. | Chart: Megan Mallicoat, Jacksonville Today
Published on June 13, 2025 at 11:53 am
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Florida loves its boating, with more than 1 million seaworthy vessels registered in just the last year. At the same time, boaters got in 685 accidents that were reported to the state, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which patrols the waterways.
In the Jacksonville area, the county with the most accidents is not the most populous or largest (that would be Duval). St. Johns County, with its diverse waterways and 15 free boat ramps, led in boating accidents last year, with 21, making it the only local county to crack the top 10 Florida counties for boating accidents.
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21
To put St. Johns’ ranking in context, Duval has many more registered boats, yet its boaters got into fewer accidents. Duval’s rate was one crash for every 1,967 boats, while St. Johns County’s was 1 to 831 — more than double the likelihood of a crash.
Sadly, those St. Johns accidents led to 14 injuries and three deaths. The main cause — collision with a fixed object — accounted for just under a third of boat accidents statewide.
In the past five years, Florida saw a steep spike in 2020 compared to previous years, reporting 836 accidents during the summer of the pandemic. The number of accidents slightly declined each year until a 3.9% rise between 2023 and 2024. Notably, St. Johns County was not in the top 10 during the 2020 spike.
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Duval County has not been ranked since 2017, when it was in 10th place, with 25 accidents.
“Accidents and fatalities increased last year, and that is a somber fact,” said Col. Brian Smith,
director of the FWC Division of Law Enforcement in a press release. The FWC says many of the injuries could have been avoided by wearing life jackets.
